Powder dryer and sterilizer



June 12, 1956 F. CLAIRMONTE 2,

POWDER DRYER AND STERILIZER Filed Feb. 8, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.

Do na/d F. C/airmonfe INVENTOR.

BY MMZ9% June 12, 1956 D. F. CLAIRMONTE POWDER DRYER AND STERILIZERFiled Feb. '8. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Donald F. C/airmonfe INVENTOR.

BY WW 5M United States Patent POWDER DRYER AND STERILIZER Donald F.Clairmonte, Barbados, British West Indies, assignor, by direct and mesueassignments, of one-third to Baron B. Floyd, Caracas, Venezuela, andone-third to Herbert F. Cox, Jr., Syracuse, N. Y.

Application February 8, 1954, Serial No. 408,969

3 Claims. (Cl. 34-233) This invention relates generally to machines fordrying and/or sterilizing powdered material and pertains moreparticularly to improvements in the same such as to produce a more rapidand more effective processing of the material and wherein the endproduct will be of more desirable and uniform quality.

In drying ovens and the like wherein an endless conveyor is utilized intransporting powdered material through the oven for processing of thesame, it is well known that the initial drying action takes place on thesurface of the powdered mass and that it is necessary to provide somemeans for breaking the crust formed thereby and turning up theunderlying material so that the entire mass will be properly dried. Thishas been tried or attempted by many means, the most common which is theprovision of stationary spring fingers projecting into the powdered massto rake the same and break up the crust and turn up the underlyingmaterial. Also, some means may be provided for agitating either theentire machine or the endless conveyor to provide additional mixing.

The main disadvantage of such systems is that not enough agitation andmixing occurs to obtain either the necessary dehydration or uniformityof dehydration of the product being processed.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide animproved form of drying and/ or sterilizing device which embodies meansfor effecting the most rapid and effective drying of the material underconsideration, and reducing the moisture content uniformly throughoutthe powder to the desired level.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improvement overexisting machines such as to render complete and controllabledehydration possible with a corresponding reduction in processing time,the simplicity of construction manifesting itself in reduction and easeof maintenance as well as minimizing investment and cost of operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved form ofagitating means for use in the manner above described which will effecta continuous and violent agitation of the powdered material throughoutthe entire extent of its mass whereby the end product will be ofhomogeneous and uniform nature and of substantially small particle size.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the drying and sterilizing oven;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section on enlarged scale taken along sectionline 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end view of the assembly;

Figure 4 is a vertical section taken along the plane of section line 4-4of Figure 1; and

Figure 5 is a partial perspective view of the conveyor assembly andagitating means showing the same in operation.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, reference numeral 10indicates a drying and sterilizing oven generally which includes a baseportion having legs 12 for supporting the device at the desired height.A supply hopper 14 is disposed at one end of the machine above theendless belt conveyor 16 operated through a power roller 18 and trainedover idler rollers 20 and an end idler roller 21. A suitable source ofpower is provided on the base, such as at 22 and a power transfermechanism 24 is also provided as will be readily apparent.

The machine incorporates a roof portion 26 having inspection doors 28and beneath the roof are drying and sterilizing lamps 30 arranged inrows of banks and supported on beams 32, in the manner shown which are,in turn, engaged with the vertical screws 34, the screws being operatedby hand cranks 36 for elevating each separate bank to the desired heightthrough a cross shaft 37 and associated gears.

The upper flight of the conveyor is supported on a table 38 of themachine and the roof peak is provided with a conduit 40 having a seriesof openings 42 separably adjustable by the cover plates 44, eachactuated exteriorly of the machine through handles 46. Instruments 48are provided to ascertain the moisture content, these instruments beingobserved through the inspection doors 28 such that the proper humidityconditions may be maintained in the oven at all times by adjusting therelative height of the lamps 30 with respect to the material being driedon the conveyor 16, and by controlling the openings 42 with the coverplates 44.

A blower 48 is provided to remove air and released moisture throughconduit 40 and thence to the exterior of the assembly, and a dischargeapron 49 is provided at one end of the machine in register with theconveyor belt 16 to receive the end product falling from the upperflight of the conveyor belt.

In frictional engagement with the upper surface of the upper flight ofthe conveyor belt 16, is provided a series of agitating means 50 whichtake the form of coil springs as shown. These agitating means aresecurely anchored at their opposite ends to the side walls of the roofmember and are slightly pretensioned, the amount of pretensioningdepending upon the particular characteristics of the springs themselves.

It will be readily appreciated that the springs will be embedded in thepowdered material disposed on the conveyor belt and will extendthroughout the entire mass thereof to thoroughly mix and break up thepowdered material as the belt moves along through the oven assembly. Asthe belt moves along, the springs will be stretched to such a point thattheir tension will overcome the force exerted upon them whereupon theywill snap back and break through the crust and thoroughly mix thepowdered material and it will be noted that this operation is continuousinasmuch as the speed of the belt, by utilizing these agitating meansmay be maintained at a relatively high speed. An additional elfect ofthis particular type of agitating means is the longitudinal distortionand movement of the same as it is flexed back and forth across theconveyor belt and through the material which further efiects a mixingand breaking of the crust such that the contents of the entire mass ofthe powdered material will be thoroughly mixed and operated upon. Inthis manner, the powdered material will be mixed both longitudinally andlaterally of the conveyor belt and will not only be broken up into muchsmaller particles than is ordinarily accomplished by other agitatingmeans but will also be so thoroughly mixed as to appreciably increasethe drying rate and uniformity of drying within the oven assembly.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will bereadily understood and further explanation is believed to beunnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes willreadily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limitthe invention to the exact construction shown and described, andaccordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resortedto, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a drying device comprising an elongated housing, a horizontalapron defining a bottom wall in said housing, an endless conveyorincluding an upper flight resting on and supported by said apron forcarrying a layer of hydratcd powdered material through said housing,drying means supported in said housing in overlying relationship alongthe longitudinal path of travel of said conveyor for dehydrating thepowdered material passing thereunder; means frictionally engaging theupper surface of said conveyor and extending upwardly through the pathof travel of the powdered material thereof for agitating the mate- 20 4along the path of travel of said conveyor and being in transversefrictional engagement thereon, said flexible elements including apre-tensioned freely movable intermediate vibrating and oscillatingportion frictionally activated into a continuous agitation movement bythe endless conveyor.

2. In a drying device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the intermediateportion of the flexible elements comprise a pre-tensioned coil spring ofan endless uniform configuration, said coil spring affording atransverse and longitudinal distortion of the flexible element andcontinuous and progressive agitation of the powdered material on theconveyor.

3. In a drying device as set forth in claim 2 wherein said coil springcomprises a helically wound wire, said wire having a uniform crosssection.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS376,546 Pond Jan. 17, 1888 1,191,404 Cummer July 18, 1916 1,551,818Garnsey Sept. 1, 1925 2,451,316 Bieber Oct. 12, 1948 2,503,317 BergquistApr. 11, 1950

